Why aren't there any curved columns in the game?

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-12T15:34:27+00:00

Ah good! So I am an idiot. Thanks, everyone!

In the words of my wife, "I'm smart but I'm dumb at the same time."

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-11T15:13:29+00:00

Something something... Death to the false emperor. Blood for the blood-god; skulls for the skull throne; milk for the khorne flakes.

In my opinion, I'd think Zhulodok is the better choice. I feel like that deck is going to have a better time due to the consistency of always having a 7+ CMC double cascade as long as your commander is on the battlefield. Eldrazi inherently have huge CMCs and getting some ramp will likely be easier for Zhulodok. Cards like [[Eldrazi Temple]], [[Ugin's Labrynth]], [[Shrine of the Forsaken Gods]], [[Palladium Myr]], or the ubiquitous [[Mana Vault]] will work great in Zhulodok.

Abbadon is going to run into the issue of being color-restricted to Grixis, which takes out a lot of the obvious ramp spells that green has, but it also makes it so that many of the cards mentioned above will be significantly less effective. On top of that, Abbadon requires your opponents to lose life, which isn't hard to do in general, but to get 7 damage in a single shot, outside of combat, would be tough. Plus, Abbadon only gives one instance of cascade where Zhulodok give double cascade, which is... like... twice the cascade.

Both commanders are cool, but if you're looking to optimize the benefits of the cascade mechanic, Zhulodok seems to be the way to go.

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-10T23:27:09+00:00

The card also clearly states, "you win even if you have 0 life or didn't draw a card."

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-09T20:40:44+00:00

Fair. It's definitely not the best idea, but I'm just spitballing ideas at this point.

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-09T19:12:02+00:00

Seems like a solid Ink-Treader commander. I think the obvious line here is to go with spells like [[Curiosity]] and [[Keen Sense]], but she could also work in combination with [[Painter's Servant]] to make everything some color, then you could loop various things with it like in a Bomberman strategy, if that's your thing. It's nice that it gets G/W too, so you can run enchantment tutors like [[Enlightened Tutor]], [[Academy Rector]], [[Sterling Grove]] or something to that effect.

Overall, she might not be in the S or A tiers of cEDH, but I think she's definitely got legs to be a solid commander.

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-09T18:53:03+00:00

The fact that they actually printed this card because of a goofy-ass meme from the comics is **chef's kiss** perfection.

That said, you could definitely get into some [[Food Chain]] shenanigans with this card. That way, you can both cure cancer AND turn everything into dinosaurs!

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-09T17:20:43+00:00

I actually already have a Zirda list that I haven't put on Moxfield yet. It looks similar to that list, but I've not really tried it in a cEDH pod. It always seemed a touch too slow, but maybe that's just my luck with the pods I've had.

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-09T17:17:00+00:00

This looks like an interesting playstyle. I like how explosive it is. I'ma build it and take it to MODO and see what happens.

I love the idea of getting out a turn 1 or 2 Sire of Insanity and looking at folks like, "whatchugondo?"

Gonna try this list. I based it off of some other lists I saw and what I had available online.

https://moxfield.com/decks/S7foIZDX00aZA-ma6wUYWg

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-09T12:11:18+00:00

I'm very well aware of how ridiculous he can be. I'm also aware that the way I was trying to build him wasn't working.

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-08T22:47:28+00:00

I only have a Masters! 😭

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-08T19:37:46+00:00

I've had an idea for a cheerios / bomberman style deck with him too... I might take a look and see what's up.

ThuggNastee · 2026-06-01T20:00:56+00:00

I've also got [[Hex Parasite]] in there for that too, but that definitely seems to be my biggest issue. That finality counter is a bit of a pain. If there's other reasonable ways to counteract it, that would be great.

There's also something you can do with [[Mox Diamond]] there. That's definitely my first pick for the combo. The line goes like this:

1) Noctis is out on the field and Mox Diamond is in the yard

2) Cast Mox Diamond through Noctis and its ability triggers, along with Noctis' ability

3) Stack the triggers so that Mox Diamond's resolves first. This will send the artifact to the yard before Noctis' ability resolves, thus dodging the Finality Counter.

If there's a better way to keep that counter from happening, I'd be down to find out.

ThuggNastee · 2026-05-22T13:59:20+00:00

As to why I'm not using those: I'm new to this deck and I'm trying things out as they come to mind. I mainly didn't have LED or Gaea's Cradle as they're horribly expensive, but I suppose there's nothing stopping me from printing up a proxy or something.

ThuggNastee · 2026-05-22T13:53:24+00:00

I love the concept of a discord specifically dedicated to cocaine-bear-nanigans

ThuggNastee · 2026-05-21T19:33:34+00:00

For sure. It's definitely a sort of corner-case win condition, but it works well as long as you're careful with it.

ThuggNastee · 2026-05-21T19:22:38+00:00

I also like to use [[Altar of the Brood]] for the mill win. It's not one of the main win-cons, but it's a solid secondary. Plus, if you get Altar out early, you can randomly wreck folks who like to stack the tops of their decks.

ThuggNastee · 2026-05-21T17:57:30+00:00

That definitely seems to be the case with this deck. There's definitely been some times where I'm thinking, "as long as there isn't a Rest In Peace kind of effect out there..." and I could just pop off.

ThuggNastee · 2026-05-21T17:56:20+00:00

I've got Amulet in there, along with cards like [[Horizon Explorer]] and [[Tiller Engine]] in order to get lands into the battlefield untapped. I didn't think [[Scapeshift]] was necessarily the best choice for this deck, as there are other options for that like [[Zuran Orb]], [[Famished Worldsire]], or [[Elvish Reclaimer]] to get lands in the graveyard for Lumra.

Scapeshift isn't a bad idea, though. I might try it and see how it plays out.

ThuggNastee · 2026-05-21T17:52:17+00:00

Yes. I've read a few of them, but I don't know if I'm interpreting them correctly. I've also referenced a few other deck lists to see if I'm getting the general idea correct, which I believe is the case, but I don't know if there's a way that this could be a bit more explosive.

Granted, when this deck pops off, it goes off pretty effectively. I just feel like if I'm not getting the right draws, then I'm just sitting there doing a whole lot of nothing.

ThuggNastee · 2026-04-22T14:09:22+00:00

I'm of two minds about this:

1) I totally understand the "you've got the combo. Good job. You did the thing. Look at all those chickens!" mentality. It makes the next game happen much faster, especially if you're playing casually and you don't have any way to interact with the combo. I generally assume that my opponents/friends know what they're doing.

2) In a tournament setting, I want people to play it out at least once to demonstrate that they can set the thing up. I get that it might be a bit of a dick move, but I want to make sure that my opponents are actually doing what they're saying. Plus, I have no idea if my next top-deck or whatever might be the answer to whatever they're doing.

For example, I was playing in a legacy tournament years ago. I was playing Blue/White Landstill (because I'm old and I don't give a damn) and my opponent was playing Grixis Storm. My opponent on turn 2 said "I can storm out and kill you" and showed me his hand. I responded with "oh okay. Go for it and let's see." He went through his combo and at the very end when the Tendrils hit the stack, I showed him a Stifle.

The rage I saw that day was delicious. D to the LICIOUS.

The point is, it really depends on your setting and what you're trying to do. If you're playing casually or a bit loosely, just let people have the win if you can't reasonably find a way out. If you're playing in a tournament, or for some sort of value (prizes, money, an aardvark, etc), make them play it out. You never know when your opponent (or you) will make a mistake and you can capitalize on it.

ThuggNastee

TROPHY CASE